WJPA Sports

The WPIAL Wrestling Team Tournament semifinals and finals are in the books.  McGuffey finished third in the 2A bracket and will advance to the PIAA tournament. Canon-McMillan lost twice and had to settle for fourth in the 3A tournament.

2A Semifinals
#2 Derry Area 48, #3 McGuffey 16  Listen Here
#1 Burrell 39, #4 Laurel 36

Championship
#2 Derry Area 37, #1 Burrell 13

3rd Place
#3 McGuffey 36, #4 Laurel 31

3A Semifinals
#2 Norwin 32, #3 Canon-McMillan 31  Listen Here
#1 Franklin Regional 29, #4 Connellsville 25

Championship
#1 Franklin Regional 31, #2 Norwin 27

3rd Place
#4 Connellsville 36, #3 Canon-McMillan 26

Defending WPIAL 5A girls champion Peters Township kept its playoff hopes alive with a crushing victory over Alert Gallatin. The Indians play Uniontown, then Bethel Park next week. Two wins put the Indians back in the post-season, something that seemed unlikely just a week ago. The Peters Township boys used 8-0 & 13-0 first-half runs to distance themselves from South Fayette. During the fourth quarter, Dylan Donovan became the all-time boys scoring leader at Peters Township, breaking a record that stood for 26 years. Donovan is just four points shy of 1,300 in his career. Ringgold improved its playoff chances with a one-point win at Baldwin. In 3A Section 3, McGuffey and Wash High moved into playoff spots with Friday wins. Charleroi locked up a 3A Section 4 berth, winning at Mt. Pleasant. Waynesburg clinched despite losing a one-point game at Southmoreland. The four teams with playoff berths in hand in 2A Section 3 play each other tonight (C-H @ B-C and J-M @ FtCh), while West Greene can clinch with a win at Burgettstown. Jeff-Morgan’s win keeps the Rockets within one game of league leader Chartiers-Houston. Avella topped Cornell Friday night and, paired with an Aquinas win over Beaver County Christian, clinched a playoff spot for the Eagles. Here’s the Washington/Greene section scoreboard for Friday/Saturday:

Girls
5A Peters Township 63, Albert Gallatin 16
3A McGuffey 40, Brownsville 33
2A-3 California 42, Carmichaels 12
1A West Greene 46, Clairton 27

Boys
6A Hempfield 68, Canon-McMillan 40
5A Peters Township 66, South Fayette 45 Watch/Listen Here
5A Ringgold 53, Baldwin 52
3A-3 McGuffey 52, Keystone Oaks 48, 2OT
3A-3 Wash High 62, Sto-Rox 58
3A-4 Southmoreland 62, Waynesburg 61
3A-4 Charleroi 63, Mt. Pleasant 59
2A-1 Bentworth at Clairton, postponed
2A-1 Frazier 60, California 36
2A-3 Chartiers-Houston 58, Beth-Center 35
2A-3 Jeff-Morgan 52, Fort Cherry 42
2A-3 West Greene 57, Burgettstown 43
2A-3 Carmichaels 67, Mapletown 35
1A Avella 63, Cornell 49

Saturday
Girls 3A Waynesburg 46, Seton-La Salle 41
Boys 3A Bishop Canevin  56, McGuffey 41
Boys 1A Avella 74, Summit 42

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari scored two goals apiece, and the surging Pittsburgh Penguins held off the New York Rangers 6-5 on Saturday for their sixth straight victory.  Mantha and Acciari beat Jonathan Quick twice in a span of just over three minutes early in the first period to give the Penguins an early cushion. Mantha made it 3-0 with an easy tap-in in the second period. Acciari and Rickard Rakell scored 20 seconds apart early in the third to push Pittsburgh’s advantage to 5-1 on a night the franchise celebrated the 10th anniversary of the 2016 club that won the Stanley Cup.  Erik Karlsson became the 12th defenseman in NHL history to reach 700 career assists when he picked up the secondary helper on Rakell’s 10th goal of the season 1:20 into the final period. The other 11 defensemen to reach the 700-assist plateau are in the Hall of Fame.  Until the late surge, New York coach Mike Sullivan — who guided the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 during a decade-long run as head coach before trading Pittsburgh for New York last summer — watched his team spend most of the afternoon putting up little fight against the surprising Penguins.  Pittsburgh moved into second place by itself in the Metropolitan Division with the victory despite being without veteran defenseman Kris Letang, who will miss at least a month with a fractured left foot sustained in a win over Chicago on Thursday. The 20-year veteran was wearing a protective boot on the foot during a pregame ceremony honoring the 2016 club.

NEW YORK (AP) — Boxer Jarrell Miller was hit with such a good punch it knocked his hair off. The heavyweight was facing Kingsley Ibeh on Saturday night when Ibeh landed a punch in the second round that caused a roar from the crowd, despite it not looking particularly hard. But the punch knocked Miller’s head backward, and his hairpiece popped upward from the front, revealing a large bald spot that covered most of his head. Miller finished the round with the hairpiece, then ripped it off in his corner between rounds and tossed it into the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Miller won by split decision, then rubbed the top of his head while doing a celebratory dance.